Overview

Brief Summary

Taxonomy

This species was originally described under the genus Pattersoncypris as the first specimens were collected in the early 1970s by the famous evolutionary biologist and NHM Palaeontologist Colin Patterson.More recently the shape of the carapace has been likened to the Chinese genus Harbinia and many ostracodologists now use this generic name.A growing number of DNA studies on living ostracods have suggested that the carapace is not always a reliable character on which to base ostracod taxonomy. However, ostracod workers who work on extinct species only have these characteristics to use.Exceptionally rare discoveries of preserved ostracod internal soft parts from the Silurian age more than 400 million years ago also suggest that taxonomy using shell characteristics is flawed. The extremely rare and exceptionally well preserved internal structures of Harbinia micropapillosa are almost identical to those of the living species Eucypris virens. Recent analysis of these internal structure by the ESRF synchrotron in Grenoble France suggests that Cretaceous ostracods reproduced using giant sperm in the same way that living ones do.

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Introduction

Harbinia micropapillosa is an extinct fossil species of ostracod. Ostracods are bivalved crustaceans that inhabit all aquatic environments and some damp terrestrial ones.This species has been recovered from the Cretaceous of Brazil in rocks that were deposited in freshwater systems. Generally only the bivalved external shells of ostracods are preserved in the fossil record. However, in Harbinia micropapillosa the internal anatomy is preserved in phosphate in the Cretaceous of Brazil.The extremely rare and exceptionally well preserved internal structures of Harbinia micropapillosa are almost identical to those of the living species Eucypris virens. Recent analysis of these internal structure of Harbinia micropapillosa by the ESRF synchrotron in Grenoble France suggests that these Cretaceous ostracods reproduced using giant sperm in the same way as their living relatives.

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Comprehensive Description

Biology

Only the bivalved external shells of ostracods are usually preserved in the fossil record. However, Harbinia micropapillosa is best known because in the Cretaceous of Brazil the internal anatomy is preserved in phosphate.This internal anatomy suggests that ostracods in the Cretaceous reproduced using giant sperm in the same way that their living relatives do.

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Distribution

Distribution habitat

DistributionThis species has been recovered from the Cretaceous of Brazil. It would appear that members of the genus Harbinia are common in Lower Cretaceous non-marine sediments. However, the exact definition of this genus and therefore its distribution is subject to much debate amongst ostracodologists.

HabitatOstracods are bivalved crustaceans that inhabit all aquatic environments and some damp terrestrial ones.Harbinia micropapillosa has been found in rocks that were deposited in freshwater systems. A close living relative Eucypris virens also inhabits these environments.

ConservationThe type locality for the extinct fossil Harbinia micropapillosa yields a number of important and well preserved 3-D fossils including fish and insects.As a result the rock formations are protected under national law in an attempt to suppress the illicit fossil trade that has been a problem in the past.

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Conservation

Conservation Status

Conservation

The type locality for the extinct fossil Harbinia micropapillosa yields a number of important and well preserved 3-D fossils including fish and insects.As a result the rock formations are protected under national law in an attempt to suppress the illicit fossil trade that has been a problem in the past.